Oregon
Oregon election officials say data entry error added 306 noncitizens to voter rolls, two voted • Oregon Capital Chronicle
The Oregon agency that issues driver’s licenses erroneously registered 306 non-citizens to vote, though state officials say only two people actually cast ballots.
State Elections Director Molly Woon told the Capital Chronicle that she received a call late Thursday afternoon from the administrator of the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services division of the Oregon Department of Transportation, telling her that DMV staff caught a data entry error that led to the division wrongly classifying some noncitizens as citizens. State election officials spent Friday reviewing that information and working with county clerks to ensure those people won’t receive ballots unless and until they prove they’re eligible to vote.
The error is not large enough to impact the outcome of the state’s elections – more than 3 million people are registered to vote in Oregon, and the 306 cases identified by state officials are 0.01% of the state’s voters.
Ben Morris, chief of staff to Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, said the DMV is continuing to investigate whether there are any more issues, and there is time to rectify any additional mistakes. Ballots won’t be mailed to voters for another month.
“We can say that this error will not impact the 2024 election, and I want to emphasize that point as much as possible. This error will not impact the 2024 election,” he said.
The error, first reported by Willamette Week, resulted from DMV staff erroneously marking noncitizens who obtained driver’s licenses as citizens, such as by miscategorizing foreign birth certificates as U.S. birth certificates and foreign passports as U.S. passports.
Since January 2016, Oregon has automatically registered citizens to vote when they obtain or renew driver’s licenses, permits or nonoperating IDs. A 2019 state law, meanwhile, eliminated a requirement that applicants prove they’re citizens or legal residents when obtaining a driver’s license.
People applying for driver’s licenses need to bring proof of their identity – like a birth certificate, passport, naturalization documents or visa – as well as proof of an Oregon address, such as a utility bill or rental agreement. Only applicants who provide documents that prove citizenship, like a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport or certificate of naturalization, are supposed to be registered to vote.
DMV administrator Amy Joyce said in a statement that the DMV discovered the error while “proactively analyzing” its system ahead of the 2024 election. The erroneous registrations it identified were based on foreign passports being entered as U.S. passports. The department is continuing to go through registrations tied to birth certificates, and that may take another two weeks, she said.
The DMV added a new prompt on its data entry screen to ensure front desk staff accurately enter citizenship information and has begun daily auditing of all transactions to verify materials are accurate before sending them to the Elections Division, Joyce added.
Woon said the secretary of state’s office is continuing to look into the two people who were not citizens when they were automatically registered to vote and will forward the issue to the start Department of Justice if it appears they violated the law.
“I want to emphasize that these folks were registered by no fault of their own,” she said. “I think that will certainly be taken into consideration. The first order of business, however, will be to see if the citizenship status of these people has changed. Because these records date from 2021 to today, it’s possible that their status has changed, and perhaps they are citizens, and that’s why they have a voter record. We’ll need to do a little bit more digging to sort that out first.”
Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement that she has been fully briefed on the situation and will continue to closely monitor it. She noted that it would affect 0.01% of the state’s registered voters and will not impact the 2024 election in any way.
“Oregon’s electoral system is one of the most secure, effective and accessible in the nation,” Kotek said. “The error in data entry which may have affected the voter eligibility of some Oregonian’s voter registration was discovered because the Oregon DMV and the secretary of state were doing their due diligence ahead of the 2024 election.”
Griffin-Valade said safeguarding the integrity of elections is her top priority, while praising automatic voter registration.
“When my office was made aware of this error, we moved quickly to update the voter rolls,” she said. “I am also personally calling on the DMV to take immediate action to improve its processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Automatic voter registration has been hugely beneficial for thousands of eligible Oregon voters to ensure access to our democracy. I’m confident the DMV is rectifying this error and improving their process, so it doesn’t happen again.”
State Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas and the Democratic nominee for the 5th Congressional District, called for a full-scale investigation into the reports.
“Any errors in this process are unacceptable, and the office of the Secretary of State must be held responsible for any such lapses. I will relentlessly defend our laws and safeguard the integrity of our elections,” she said.
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Oregon
Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class
With the winter evaluation period of high school football recruiting now behind us, we’ve seen some of the top recruiting sites update their rankings over the past few weeks and start to reset their boards for the 2027 class. In February, On3 shifted players around after getting fresh looks at the class, and 247Sports did the same earlier this week.
So with Oregon’s handful of commits getting new ratings, where does the Ducks’ class rank nationally in this cycle?
If you look at sites individually, it looks different, with 247Sports having Oregon sitting at No. 13 in the nation. At Rivals, though, they take the industry ranking, which factors in their own rankings, plus an average from 247Sports and ESPN.
In the industry rankings, Oregon sits at No. 9 in the nation, with five commitments.
Going into the summer months, the Ducks are in a great spot, leading or among the top schools for a handful of the top prospects in the nation, like 5-star QB Will Mencl or 5-star WR Dakota Guerrant. We will see what movement Oregon can make in the coming months after official visits take place early in the summer.
Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
Oregon
New Data Shows Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise
Data released by the Oregon Health Authority this week suggests Oregonians are getting hurt on electric scooters more every year.
In recent years, according to OHA, an “e-scooter-specific code” was developed for health care tracking purposes.
From 2021 to 2024, annual injury reports under this code from Oregon hospitals and emergency departments jumped from 211 to 418.
And in just the first nine months of 2025, there had been 509 such reports.
“These injuries are not minor scrapes,” said Dagan Wright, an OHA epidemiologist, in a written statement. “They often involve head injuries, broken bones, and other serious trauma that requires emergency or inpatient care.”
The city of Portland signed contracts with three e-scooter rental companies in 2018, as the transportation craze spread across the country. But e-scooter injury diagnosis codes are relatively new in health care reporting, Wright said in the OHA statement.
“While the overall numbers remain smaller than for other transportation-related injuries, the rapid increase over a short period of time is a clear safety signal,” OHA added.
The agency highlighted the story of Portland e-scooter commuter Daniel Pflieger, who it says was riding a scooter home when he reportedly slid on ice. He bruised several ribs.
Sometimes outcomes are worse. OHA identified 17 deaths linked to electric or motorized scooters since 2018, and seven of those occurred in 2025.
OHA says that e-bikes raise many similar safety concerns as e-scooters. The first full year for which e-bike injuries were coded for reporting was 2023. State data shows 392 reported e-bike injuries that year, 683 in 2024, and 760 in the first nine months of 2025.
“Injuries involving e-bikes and e-scooters share common risk factors—speed, lack of helmet use, roadway design, and interactions with motor vehicles,” Wright said.
Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.
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Oregon
Oregon women’s basketball playing for March Madness seeding vs. Purdue
Hear Oregon women’s Graves, Etute and Fiso after loss to Washington
The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team finishes the regular season with a March 1 home loss to Washington.
At times, the Oregon women’s basketball team has certainly made things much harder on themselves than it needs to be. The team has also produced some miraculous comeback victories, putting itself in position to make women’s March Madness for the second straight season.
March 1, in their final regular season game, the Ducks (20-11, 8-10 Big Ten) finished on the wrong end of yet another tight game to Washington, 70-69. It’s the second time this season Oregon has come back from a double-digit deficit, but ended up losing to the Huskies (20-9, 10-8).
Those aren’t the only times Oregon has come back from a double-digit deficit, like it did in wins vs. Nebraska and USC. The No. 11-seed Ducks are hoping they won’t need heroics in a Big Ten tournament first-round game against No. 14 Purdue this Wednesday.
Watch Oregon basketball on Peacock
“I think our biggest weakness this year has been our inconsistency,” coach Kelly Graves said, “something we’ve battled all year. The great thing is our kids know, regardless of the score, we’ve got a chance. We’ll make it a game at some point. As a coach, it drives you nuts. Hopefully we can figure it out and play more consistent basketball.”
Oregon’s volatility has seen it earn three double-digit comeback wins this year, but also blow several games in the final moments.
Against Wisconsin, the Ducks held a 6-point lead with less than a minute remaining, but lost in overtime. Against Illinois, Oregon held a 21-point lead at halftime, blew it in the third quarter, trailed by eight with minutes to play and somehow eked out a win.
That makes UO somewhat of a wild card heading into the conference tournament this week at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“It’s definitely (been) a rollercoaster,” guard Katie Fiso said. “A lot of highs and a lot of lows. But one thing that I try to see through all games is our grittiness and our toughness. One thing that stays consistent throughout the season is our toughness and our grittiness. The game isn’t over until the last bell rings.”
The Ducks will be taking on a Boilermakers (13-16, 5-13) team that has struggled against most of the top competition in the league, but played Oregon tight in a Feb. 25 Ducks win.
Graves said when the Ducks went throughout the postgame handshake line after, the Boilermakers felt like their season would end after the regular season. Thanks to some upsets, Purdue is in the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 14 seed.
“We’re playing a team that probably feels like it’s playing with house money,” Graves said. “We’ve got to pick ourselves back up and get it done.”
What channel is Oregon vs. Purdue on today in Big Ten tournament?
Oregon will tip off vs. Purdue on Peacock, with no TV option to watch the game.
Oregon vs. Purdue start time in Big Ten tournament
- Date: Wednesday, March 4
- Time: Around 5:30 p.m. PT
Oregon and Purdue will play around 5:30 p.m. PT at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The first game of the day begins at 12:30 p.m. PT, with the next game 25 minutes after the first game ends, and so on. The Ducks play in the third game of the day, so no official tip time is listed.
Oregon women’s basketball schedule 2025-26
Below are the past five games of Oregon’s 2025-26 basketball season. For the full schedule, click here.
| Feb. 15 | Washington 51, Oregon 43 |
| Feb. 19 | Oregon 80, Nebraska 76 |
| Feb. 22 | Indiana 72, Oregon 65 |
| Feb. 25 | Oregon 71, Purdue 65 |
| March 1 | Washington 70, Oregon 69 |
| March 4 | Oregon vs. Purdue (Big Ten tournament) |
Purdue women’s basketball schedule 2025-26
Below are the past five games of Purdue’s 2025-26 basketball season. For the full schedule, click here.
Feb. 14
Purdue 72, Rutgers 57
Feb. 19
Iowa 83, Purdue 74
Feb. 22
Maryland 99, Purdue 66
Feb. 25
Oregon 71, Purdue 65
March 1
Purdue 67, Northwestern 62
March 4
Oregon vs. Purdue (Big Ten tournament)
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football and women’s basketball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com.
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